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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3178)	7/10/2003 12:04:33 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Kerry-Graham seems to be the consensus best team to win, and I agree of course. Graham to get Florida. Kerry to steal a portion of military voters from Bush as well as the entire military issue.

To: stockman_scott who wrote (3178)	7/10/2003 9:01:29 AM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10965

Given its drift in recent years, Illinois could be fertile ground for Dean. Dean builds Illinois network view.atdmt.com July 10, 2003 BY LYNN SWEET WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF The major Democratic presidential candidates have been routinely stopping in the Chicago area to cultivate donors and woo political power brokers. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, with a big boost from the Internet, is the only one building a real Illinois operation. Dean has a reputation as an anti-establishment insurgent who just broke into the top tier because of his successful second quarter fund-raising. But when it comes to Illinois, the rebel label is not quite right. Dean is skillfully working the establishment. At the same time, he is whipping up grass-roots support from people who usually don't get involved in politics. "It's true I have sort of an outsider-insider campaign," Dean told me Wednesday. For examples of the insider/outsider strategy, let's look at two Dean supporters. One is Kevin Conlon, just named by Dean to be the Illinois state chair. He's a great catch for Dean. Conlon comes out of the Democratic Party establishment and has close relations with Illinois labor leaders. He is president of Wilhelm & Conlon Public Strategies, where his partner is David Wilhelm, a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Dean gets to tap Conlon's killer Rolodex. Wilhelm is not committed for now. Conlon said he went for Dean because "I wanted someone who could be tough" and make a forceful case for the Democrats. The other is Jim Ginsburg, the president of Cedille, a not-for-profit classical music label with a mission to record and promote Chicago musicians, who started organizing for Dean on his own, through the Internet. "I found them,'' Ginsburg said, and "once you are found, they don't let you go.'' Ginsburg is the son of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her lawyer husband, Martin. Ginsburg's mother was one of the justices on the losing side of the 2000 Florida recount ruling that allowed George W. Bush to become president. In 2004, Ruth Ginsburg's son for the first time is motivated to jump into a presidential campaign. Until Dean came along, Ginsburg told me he was watching from the sidelines. "I have never been involved in a political campaign in my life,'' Ginsburg said. "I have never been moved.'' Ginsburg came to Dean from Meetup.com, a Web site that has emerged as a powerful organizing tool for Dean's White House contest. It is a meeting place for like-minded people. Across the nation, Dean backers get together on the first Wednesday of every month. Chicago is the seventh most popular Meetup.com city for Dean, and last Wednesday there were 16 Dean meetups in Illinois. Ginsburg started going to Dean meetups at the Heartland Cafe in East Rogers Park, and decided there should be another, bigger site in his Lakewood-Balmoral neighborhood. About 150 Dean people got together at Charlie's Ale House, 5308 N. Clark, last Wednesday. The Illinois primary is March 14, and it is possible that the Democratic nominee may be already known by then. Nonetheless, Dean said he intends to organize in Illinois and is already thinking about delegate slates. And being next to Iowa means "we can send help in there for him," said Conlon. Conlon just met Ginsburg this week. I asked Ginsburg if he shares his enthusiasm about Dean with his mother. "More with my dad,'' he said. "Certainly mom hears about it indirectly.'' Jan's Presidents' Club Dean comes to Chicago on July 18 to make a presentation to "The Presidents' Club" run by Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Six of the major presidential candidates have agreed to come to Chicago and meet with a group of Schakowsky supporters. The price to attend the get-together is $250 each session or $1,000 for the series. Schakowsky said the money goes into the political action committee she opened up in 2002 called Progressive Choices. Schakowsky offers each presidential candidate $5,000 from her PAC if they come. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) earlier met with Schakowsky's group and Dean travels to Evanston next week for his turn. Schakowsky said she is not sure if she will make an endorsement. She is going to use her PAC to do "serious voter mobilization."